I used to be a HUGE John/Roman and Marlena fan and that says alot because I loved Wayne's Roman and Marlena and was happy when Wayne returned. Drake and Dee sold me on J&M during the affair story. I followed them through the great Maison Blanche story, through the sometimes hard to watch Possession story (creative but I didn't like the way it was all played at times), and through the great Aremid stories and Kristen/John/Marlena saga.

For me, J&M fell apart after JER left the first time. No one has truly "got" them since, not even JER in his second run. It's kind of like J&J. Only certain writers seem to "get" them and write them right. Oddly enough. JER sucked with them the first time around but the second time around he wrote some good stuff for them when they were actually together and Jack wasn't dying LOL. J&J never were truly in their complete element until their final two weeks on the show. That was them. No one else came close to that dynamic in their 5-6 year return.

I was shocked by how awful J&M were during JER's second run because he wrote them like a poet in his first run. Even through awful material, they still worked in the 90's. Since 1997, they haven't. One reason IMO is that both characters were sacrificed for the sake of them being a couple. By that I mean that Marlena had nothing to do on her own after 1997. Not a thing. John had ample story. He had the Gina arc and they even tossed him in with the kids in Puerto Rico in 2001. The only time Marlena got anything was when Brady returned but even that sort of became all about John. They had a chance with Hattie/Marlena but dropped the ball. The stuff they got in 2002 could've been good but they dropped the ball again by reversing the parentage of Cassie and Rex. Marlena and Tony being their parents would've been interesting. They were finally going into Marlena's past and she was getting her own material and they gutted it when B&C were demoted.

Marlena had nothing solid until JER came back and made her the serial killer and that crashed and burned real fast. And still J&M didn't feel the same. That magic and passion was gone for me. They played like cartoons for me. John was this over the top, superhero and Marlena was far from being the feisty, formidable woman she once was. Don't even get me started on that Alex North trash. JER's second run also forever trashed Dee and Drake's acting. They got too used to the campy style because Dee's little gasping and other annoying tendencies (which many actors have but her's are obvious and this is coming from a fan of her's) along with Drake's were becoming more and more cumbersome. Dee finally got a chance to go back to her roots and she did when they killed John. That was the Marlena I love. Feisty, formidable, independent and Dee was no longer overacting or gasping or anything. She was Marlena again. Even when nuJohn came, she still was. I think Ed Scott helped that along. Regardless, I liked the writing for Marlena overall right up to October and they lost me.

Anyway, I've been a fan since the early 80's and I feel for the fans losing them but, for me, J&M have been dead for me as a couple since 1997. It just hasn't felt the same. And both characters have been kind of a dud for me the past two months so I, personally, am ready for them to leave. I think they need a break and that they need to be rested but I can understand their fans not agreeing. All I can say is it is alot like what happened to Doug and Julie and even Mickey and Maggie and other couples in the 90's. They got shoved aside hastily to and their fans were just as pissed. I've said it before but I will say it again. Days has been down this road before with changes like this. It did it in the 80's and it did it in the 90's and why it took so long to do it in the 2000's is beyond me but I, personally, feel it's past time for a radical change like this. It may not be successful. We'll see but so far it is.